The UAE has the world’s least demanding tax framework for corporations, followed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, according to a new report compiled by the World Bank, IFC, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Companies operating in the Gulf state, which was last year ranked sixth globally, pay an annual total tax rate of 14.9 percent, make four payments a year and spend just four hours preparing the administration required for payments, said the report.
Click here to see a countdown of the world’s 20 least demanding tax frameworks
The report, which studied 185 economies including 13 in the region, said companies in the Middle East pay a total average tax rate of 23.6 percent compared to a global average of 44.7 percent, the lowest of any region in the world.
Companies operating in the Middle East make 17.6 payments annually and spend an average time of 158 hours to comply with the regulations.
“Economies in the Middle East feature so prominently in the top jurisdiction of the Paying Taxes indicators. This can be largely attributed to the relatively few taxes levied and the reliance on other sources of government revenues,” Dean Kern, tax leader at PwC Middle East, said in a statement.
“With increased spending requirements and populations demanding greater economic rights, governments in the Middle East will face a challenge to raise additional tax revenues in the future, either by introducing new taxes, expanding the tax base or increasing tax rates,” he added.
Other Gulf states also ranked highly with Bahrain seventh globally followed by Oman in tenth and Kuwait at 11th.
Click here to see a countdown of the world’s 20 least demanding tax frameworks
Venezuela has the world’s most demanding tax framework for companies with total tax payments of 62.7 percent, 71 payments and 792 man hours to comply with the regulations. Venezuela was followed by Chad with total tax payments of 65.4 percent and Guinea at 73.2 percent.
While the Democratic Republic of the Congo ranked 182 globally overall, it is the world’s most expensive country to operate in with total tax payments of 339.7 percent. The African country is followed by Gambia with total tax payments of 283.5 percent and Comoros Islands at 217.9 percent.
The lowest overall tax payment is Vanuatu, at 8.4 percent, followed by Macedonia at 9.4 percent.
